


Fire

by Meaningless_Sky



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Mental Link, Not Really Character Death, Parental Red Lion (Voltron), This Entire Thing Is Red's POV, Thought We Deserved Some Mama Red Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-20 02:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19984552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meaningless_Sky/pseuds/Meaningless_Sky
Summary: But he was fire, just like her, with a temper to match her own, his flames burning just as hot as hers, clashing in a raging inferno of overwhelming sound and shared emotion, tearing down the last of her walls and through the mental link already connecting them.And when the boy went flying away from her, when his cries of pain echoed through her skull, she could ignore him no longer.He fell, and she followed.





	Fire

When Red had lost Alfor, she had lost a partner. She had lost something so vital to her that it felt almost like someone had torn her heart from her chest, ripped it to shreds, and shoved it back I to her core, patching the wound with nothing but a strip of tape.

And Red swore that she would never love another Paladin as long as she existed.

* * *

And then the boy appeared, slamming his hands against her particle barrier in a pure outburst of frustration, yelling in anger. And for a split second, she almost lowered it for him. Let this strange boy with the odd rounded ears under the barrier. Allowed herself to love.

But she refused, pulling away from the boy, buried her heart and stifled the flame growing in her chest. She couldn't bear it if she lost another Paladin. And this one, she could sense he was nothing more than a child. From what she knew of the human race of planet Earth, he wasn't even full grown yet. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she took in a child as her Paladin, and allowed him to be injured.

But he was fire, just like her, with a temper to match her own, his flames burning just as hot as hers, clashing in a raging inferno of overwhelming sound and shared emotion, tearing down the last of her walls and through the mental link already connecting them.

And when the boy went flying away from her, when his cries of pain echoed through her skull, she could ignore him no longer.

He fell, and she followed.

And when she caught him, she felt her soul entwine with his, and she knew there was no going back.

* * *

She had told herself the very first time she ever saw him that she wouldn't be able to bear the burden of Keith's death. And she had allowed him in anyway. She was amused by the Princess's attempts to communicate with her. It was immediately obvious that she had no idea what she was doing.

And after Keith left her to join the Galra rebellion, she almost let the Princess in. And she realized, as she tentatively reached out to touch the Princess's mind, making sure to keep the touch light enough to avoid detection: the Princess, though she had a temper as fiery as Keith's, and she flared with power just like a radiant sun, she was too graceful, too calculated, too cold. She was Blue's, and Lance was now hers.

She didn't like Lance. He was angry, blaming the world for everything he didn't understand. Where Keith had been quiet serenity with that flame of his flickering just beneath the surface, Lance was loud, constantly making his presence known. Keith was all burning fire and unbridled desperation. Lance was water, hesitant and graceful. And she never once allowed herself to so much as like him.

He was _nothing_ like _her_ Paladin, and she just wanted Keith back. His absence was tearing at her like a maelstrom, and Lance could feel it now. So she locked down her emotions again and she kept moving, never looking back...

And her cub returned to her, taller now, stronger, and so much different, but the fire in his core was just as strong as ever. And she accepted him gladly, not even realizing until he left again that he wasn't back to say. Her cub yet to come home. And Red was not known for her patience.

* * *

The next time he returned, for something he called "just a quick visit, Red," she had trapped him in the hangar with her for almost an hour, not that he was complaining.

After that, she didn't see him for a long time.

* * *

She hadn't meant to care for him quite as much as she did. She had unconsciously thrown her very heart and soul into loving the odd, secretive boy with the strange ears and closed off mind. And now it was far too late, watching silently from her hangar as Black's Paladin rushed off with her cub cradled gently in his arms. It was painfully obvious that he was trying to keep his metal arm away from her cub.

He didn't have to be afraid. He was strong. Red trusted him with her cub.

* * *

With his death, she allowed herself to drift. But he was stronger than she thought, and Red had never been prouder of him. His fire burned as hot as ever, simmering just beneath the surface. But when the infection tore through his body, she could feel his pain like it was hers, and she tried desperately to shelter him from it as long as she could, protecting him as long as her body would allow. But her soul, her core, was stronger than his even when he was healthy, and she would have overwhelmed him if she hadn't backed off when she felt the strain on his already weakened mind grow too much for his frail body to handle.

She could feel him slipping away from her with ever hour that passed. She screamed her pain to the universe, taking flight in a burst of Sparks and flame, not heeding the cries of her sisters as they begged her to stay.

She flew until her joins creaked and her limbs burned with a phantom pain she knew instinctively was not hers.

And she felt when the bright fire of her Paladin, the same fire that had drawn her to him all those years ago, was snuffed out.

* * *

No one had seen her in millennia, she'd made sure of it, although she brushes against her sisters' minds just enough to reassure them.

Green often spoke to her, but none of them begged her to return. Not anymore. Green wold tell her of her new Paladin, tell her about how defending the universe was either going well or wasn't. She'd spend hours telling Red about how Lillith, a descendent of Coran, was always on the lookout for her should she choose to return.

She didn't want to return and choose another Paladin, not after her little cub had died. Keith had been the one thing keeping her going after Alfor's death.

She couldn't afford to allow herself to feel again.

* * *

With a sigh, Red stood, pacing the gravel beneath her feet, when something brushed against her mind. A presence she hadn't felt in almost two thousand years. She froze, but tentatively allowed the presence in, daring to hope.

**_Little one?_ **

She held her breath, and for a moment, the presence withdrew, taking her energy with it. And then it returned full force, and she knew without a doubt that it was him. Her cub had found her.

_Hey, Red. I'm home._


End file.
